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Glenn Plummer, Byron Minns, Lexie D. Bigham, Vincent Craig Dupree, LaRita Shelby ... see more see more... , Kevin Best , Allan Hatcher , Christian Coleman , Ivory Ocean , Starletta DuPois , Carl Lumbly , Mark E. Anderson , Donald Bakeer , Musa Bakeer , Leonard Boyles , Richard G. Camphuis , Ron Chovance , Tim De Zarn , Reginald T. Dorsey , Lanier Edwards , Linda Fontanette , Clynell Jackson III , Sal Landi , Julius Le Flore , Darren Leong , Michael A. Lerner , Rana Mack , Diane Manzo , Michael McNab , George Mulholland , Vickilyn Reynolds , Baldwin C. Sykes , Big Daddy Wayne , Eugene Williams , Terrence Williams , Bonnie Oda Homsey , Jaki Brown-Karman , Byron Keith Minns

Glenn Plummer delivers a powerful performance in this angry film based on Crips, a novel written by South Central Los Angeles high school teacher Donald Baker, and directed by Steve Anderson, who serv... read more read more...ed time in prison. Plummer plays Bobby, a young black man trapped in a self-perpetuating cycle of hatred, incarceration, and bloodshed. On his first day out of prison, he comes back to the streets of South Central LA and the only family he knows --the gang. He finds that his best friend Ray-Ray (Byron Keith Minns) is now the leader of the Deuces. Ray-Ray, with plenty of sweet talk, easily talks Bobby into committing a murder, killing a rival gang leader. But before the killing Bobby finds that his girlfriend Carole (LaRita Shelby) has given birth to his son. He also sees that she is becoming too dependent on her drug supply. After the killing, Bobby is hauled back into jail for a ten-year stretch. In jail, Bobby undergoes a transformation. Introduced to the Muslim community and mentored by an older convict named Ali (Carl Lumbly), Bobby begins to read W.E.B. Du Bois and Martin Luther King. He learns about self-respect and how gangs use people like him. When he is once again released from prison, Bobby is a new man. But South Central has gone from bad to worse. Carole, now completely addicted to cocaine, works as a hooker to support her habit. He also discovers that Ray-Ray has recruited his 10-year-old son Jimmie (Christian Coleman) as a junior gang member, stealing car stereos. Jimmie looks upon Ray-Ray as a role model and Bobbie must find a way to save his child from the violent and doomed future of a gang member. ~ Paul Brenner, Rovi

Flixster Users

82% liked it

5,697 ratings

Critics

100% liked it

6 critics

R, 1 hr. 39 min.

Directed by: Byron Minns, Steve Anderson (II), Carl Lumbly, Christian Coleman, Glenn Plummer, Steve Anderson (V), Steve Anderson, Stephen M. Anderson

Release Date: September 18, 1992

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DVD Release Date: July 27, 1999

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Flixster Reviews (239)

  • EightThirty
    August 26, 2007
    EightThirty
    Now this is Gangsta...Drama 4 your Mama Type...Good 4 old and young ^_^
  • tdbradley
    December 18, 2009
    tdbradley
    This has been sitting on my shelf and I haven't seen it years. I forgot how good this movie really is. It 's a great depiction of a true story and was very underrated at the time of it's release.
  • iansubordinate
    April 11, 2009
    iansubordinate
    Of all of the 90's gang drama films i have seen, this was the most powerful for some reason. Great acting and story had me drawn in the whole time. No matter how gangsta you are, you may just tear up a bit... DEUCE
  • hmenef
    March 13, 2007
    hmenef
    Good flick. Kinda stereotypical but it proves it's purpose as the movie goes on. I like the brother that Bobby encountered in jail that gave him lesson that ordinarily a father gives to a son. Real sad but uplifting also. As bad as it gets it's only over when you quit.

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Critic Reviews

Owen Gleiberman
September 7, 2011
Owen Gleiberman, Entertainment Weekly

Click to read the article Full Review

March 26, 2009
Variety

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Janet Maslin
May 20, 2003
Janet Maslin, New York Times

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Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

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Desson Thomson
January 1, 2000
Desson Thomson, Washington Post

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Rita Kempley
January 1, 2000
Rita Kempley, Washington Post

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September 18, 1992
Entertainment Weekly

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Emanuel Levy
June 11, 2005
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

No review available.

Brian J. Arthurs
October 18, 2002
Brian J. Arthurs, Beach Reporter (Southern California)

No review available.

Scott Weinberg
July 25, 2002
Scott Weinberg, eFilmCritic.com

No review available.

Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com

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    • Bobby Johnson: He isn't a duce, he's a mothafuckin' shermhead.
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South Central Trivia

  • In the 1988 drama, Colors, Sean Penn is referred to as what by the South Central gang members?  Answer »
  • What film had this tag line : A child's chance to esc ape anger and in justice begins with one man ....his father ?  Answer »
  • in dont be a menice in south central what was the crack head tring to sale?  Answer »
  • Which film was not parodied in "Don't Be A Menace to South Central While Drinking Your Juice in the Hood"?  Answer »
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